Properties of schemes of morphisms and applications to blow-ups

Abstract: Let $X$ be a fixed projective scheme which is flat over a base scheme $S$. The association taking a quasi-projective $S$-scheme $Y$ to the scheme parametrizing $S$-morphisms from $X$ to $Y$ is functorial. We prove that this functor preserves limits, and both open and closed immersions. As an application, we determine a partition of schemes parametrizing rational curves on the blow-ups of projective spaces at finitely many points. We compute the dimensions of its components containing rational curves outside the exceptional divisor and the ones strictly contained in it. Furthermore, we provide an upper bound for the dimension of the irreducible components intersecting the exceptional divisors properly.